In a dramatic escalation of tensions in the Caribbean, the United States has launched a sweeping blockade and series of seizures targeting oil tankers linked to sanctioned Venezuelan oil exports, marking a bold new chapter in Washington's long-running standoff with President Nicolás Maduro's government. Over the past two weeks, U.S. forces have intercepted or pursued at least three vessels in international waters off Venezuela, sparking international condemnation, accusations of piracy, and a rapidly intensifying diplomatic crisis that now involves the United Nations, China, and Russia.
President Donald Trump, who returned to office in January, ordered the "complete blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela last week, according to The Reason and BBC News. The move is intended to cripple Venezuela's oil-dependent economy and ramp up pressure on Maduro, whose government the U.S. has declared a Foreign Terrorist Organization and accused of funding drug-related crime with oil revenues. "We're actually pursuing" the latest tanker, Trump confirmed on Monday, December 22, 2025. "It came out of Venezuela and it was sanctioned." He added, "We're going to keep it... maybe we'll sell it, maybe we'll keep it. Maybe we'll use it in the strategic reserves. We're keeping it, we're keeping the ships also."
The saga began on December 10, when U.S. authorities boarded and seized a tanker named the Skipper off Venezuela's coast. The U.S. attorney's office for the District of Columbia issued a seizure warrant, alleging the Skipper was part of an "oil shipping network" supporting Hezbollah and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, as reported by The Washington Post. The vessel was subsequently escorted to Galveston, Texas, where it arrived on December 21.
The operation intensified over the weekend of December 20-21, with U.S. forces boarding a Panamanian-flagged commercial vessel named Centuries, owned by Hong Kong's Centuries Shipping, off the Venezuelan coast. Notably, the boarding was conducted without a seizure warrant. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted footage of the raid on social media, declaring, "The United States will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund narco terrorism in the region. We will find you, and we will stop you." She further asserted that the Centuries was "operating as part of the Venezuelan shadow fleet to traffic stolen oil and fund the narcoterrorist Maduro regime." The White House confirmed that the Centuries carried oil from Venezuela's state-run company PDVSA, a key target of U.S. sanctions.
The most dramatic episode unfolded with the pursuit of the Bella 1, a very large crude oil carrier described by U.S. officials as a "sanctioned dark fleet vessel" engaged in Venezuela's illegal sanctions evasion. The Bella 1, which had previously been linked to the Iranian oil trade and allegedly flew a false flag, was targeted by the U.S. Coast Guard after it was spotted in international waters near Venezuela. According to The New York Times, the Bella 1 refused to submit to boarding and fled northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, with the Coast Guard in pursuit. BBC Verify tracked 50 distress signals from the Bella 1 on December 21, indicating it traveled from 461 km to 521 km northeast of Antigua and Barbuda at a speed of about 10 knots (11.5 mph) before its final call was received at 17:13 GMT that day.
The U.S. Treasury Department had previously sanctioned the Bella 1's registered owner for links to Iran and support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The cargo the Bella 1 was scheduled to pick up had been purchased by a Panamanian businessman recently sanctioned for ties to the Maduro family, according to data from Venezuela's state oil company. U.S. officials said they had obtained a seizure warrant for the Bella 1 based on its prior activities, but the ship evaded capture.
President Trump, for his part, has been in touch with major American oil companies regarding the seized oil and vessels. The administration has also doubled the reward for information leading to Maduro's capture and ordered the blockade as part of a broader pressure campaign. An estimated 20 percent of tankers worldwide are believed to move oil from Iran, Venezuela, and Russia in violation of U.S. sanctions, often disguising their location and filing false paperwork, as reported by The New York Times. The Bella 1, for example, had previously faked its location signal on another voyage.
The Venezuelan government, unsurprisingly, has reacted with outrage. On Sunday, December 21, President Maduro denounced the U.S. actions as "piracy," accusing Washington of attempting to seize Venezuela's oil riches. Venezuela is home to the world's largest proven oil reserves, and oil exports are a crucial source of government revenue. Maduro's government has requested an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council, scheduled for Tuesday, December 23, to address what Caracas describes as "ongoing U.S. aggression."
International reaction has been swift and pointed. China, a longtime ally of Venezuela, condemned the U.S. blockade and seizures as "unilateral and illegal sanctions that lack a basis in international law or authorization by the United Nations Security Council." A spokesperson for China's foreign ministry added, "Venezuela has the right to develop independently and engage in a mutually beneficial cooperation with other nations." Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also weighed in, expressing "full support for and solidarity with the Venezuelan leadership" following a phone call with his Venezuelan counterpart. While both China and Russia have provided financial and military support to Venezuela in the past, experts note that their current backing appears largely symbolic, consisting of public statements rather than direct intervention.
Domestically, the Trump administration's aggressive tactics have sparked debate and criticism. Senator Rand Paul, speaking on ABC's This Week, lambasted the U.S. government's actions as "a provocation" and "a prelude to war," arguing, "Look, at any point in time, there are 20, 30 governments around the world that we don't like, that are either socialist or communist, or have human rights violations…but it isn't the job of the American soldier to be the policeman of the world." He continued, "I'm not for confiscating these liners. I'm not for blowing up these boats of unarmed people that are suspected of being drug dealers. I'm not for any of this. And neither was Donald Trump."
As the blockade and tanker seizures continue, the world is watching closely to see whether the U.S. campaign will succeed in tightening the economic noose around Maduro's government, or whether it will escalate into a broader confrontation. With the United Nations Security Council set to debate the crisis and both China and Russia voicing their opposition to U.S. moves, the stakes for Venezuela—and for international maritime law—have rarely been higher.
For now, the fate of the Bella 1 and the broader outcome of this high-seas standoff remain uncertain, but the reverberations are already being felt from Caracas to Washington, Beijing, and Moscow.
